Inspirational article from Joanne Lowe

I DIDN’T KNOW

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3: 16 - 18 King James Version

Years ago when I lay under the bed in the mental hospital frightened and not wanting to live, I didn’t know that Jesus loved me. I knew that I loved Him but I sure didn’t think He could possibly love me or even want to love me because I was so unlovely. When I gave the speech in my communications class in college, I didn’t think anybody was really listening. However, when I crawled behind the podium with the lights off and said in a loud voice “Doesn’t anybody care if I live or die”, after class was over one of my fellow students said to me “I didn’t know that anyone understood what I am going through”.

I think as Jesus hung on that cross of torture that He thought and felt in His heart “I didn’t know it would hurt so badly, to not only be tortured physically but also emotionally”. When Jesus was a little boy, He played just like all little boys. However, when He grew up, the playing stopped and the horror began. He knew that one day He would walk that long lonely road to Calvary and there be tortured, humiliated, mocked and scorned. How could He do it? How could He go on knowing all this? Why didn’t He just cry out to His Father and ask Him if He could come home?

The answer is because Jesus is Love! Do you know that Jesus loves you so much that He willingly suffered agony and pain so that you could be saved, or do you even care? Think how His mother must have felt. She knew that He wasn’t going to go to college or become rich. However, she also knew that He loved people and she was very proud of Him. He is knocking at the door of your heart. Will you open it and let Him come in today? He didn’t have a comfortable place to rest when He was here on earth. Will you give Him a pillow in your heart on which He can rest His precious head?

For some of you, He has been standing at your heart’s door for years and you have slammed the door on Him again and again. Every time that you say no to Jesus whether it is for salvation or anything else that He asks you to do, you are pounding another nail into His hand and another thorn into His heart.

Hasn’t He suffered enough? Why do we keep hurting Him by our words and by our actions? Jesus deserves to be happy and the way to make Him happy is by being kind and loving to people. May God forgive us if someone says “I didn’t know Jesus loves me” because of the way we have treated him or her!

Joanne Lowe

March 23, 2007

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